Vol. 76, No. 26
What’s inside?
Thursday, June 25, 2026
Torres, Dinowitz win primary races By Michelle Mullen, Alexa Lewis and Olivia Young mmullen@riverdalepress.com alewis@riverdalepress.com oyoung@riverdalepress.com
Greater Riverdale hits the polls
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Incumbent candidates in two of the area’s most closely watched races won against their challengers in the June 23 Democratic primary, which drew thousands of local voters to the polls. In the race for the 81st Assembly District, incumbent Assembly member Jeffrey Dinowitz defeated challenger Morgan Evers to represent Riverdale, Kingsbridge, Van Cortlandt Village, Kingsbridge Heights, Marble Hill, Norwood, Woodlawn and Wakefield,
securing 65 percent of the vote with more than 7,400 votes by press time with 96 percent of votes reported, according to election night results from the New York City Board of Elections. In the race for New York’s 15th Congressional District, incumbent U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres defeated challengers Michael Blake and Jose Vega to represent greater Riverdale and much of the surrounding borough, securing 72 percent of the vote with more than 23,000 votes with 96 percent of votes reported by press time, according to the board of elections. The Assembly district has been represented by Dinowitz since 1994. He currently chairs the Assembly Codes Committee, which reviews legislation related to New York’s criminal and civil justice systems. He
also serves on the Rules, Health, Election Law and Ways and Means committees. Throughout the campaign, Dinowitz highlighted his legislative experience and record in Albany. His priorities, he previously told The Press, included public school funding, tenants’ rights, mass transit and advancing policies aimed at mitigating climate change. “It feels good that the voters recognized the work that I’ve done,” Dinowitz said after results were announced, adding that, while he stood outside the polls on election day, voters expressed that appreciation. Dinowitz also said he prided himself on running a “positive campaign.” His challenger, Evers, entered the race with a background as an educator, disability rights advocate and community organizer.
She previously served as the female state committee member for the 81st Assembly District and helped found the Unity Democratic Club. Evers previously told The Press her campaign centered on affordability, including preserving affordable homeownership, protecting tenants, expanding access to child care and supporting small businesses facing rising costs. “I’m proud of the movement we started,” Evers said of her campaign. “And I know this is just the beginning.” The race was widely viewed as one of the most competitive contests in the northwest Bronx this election cycle, offering voters a PRIMARIES ON PAGE A4
Free 2-K program launches in the Bronx
Democratic primary results and photos Page A2
By Michelle Mullen mmullen@riverdalepress.com
Synagogue earns CB8 approval Construction to begin after more hurdles Page A3
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Hundreds of lucky Knicks fans closed out the day with a championship ceremony at City Hall June 18, where Mayor Zohran Mamdani presented Knicks players with keys to the city.
After decades of waiting, Riverdale fans witness NY Knicks history By Michelle Mullen mmullen@riverdalepress.com
Juneteenth celebration Honoring and remembering ancestors Page A5
For lifelong Knicks fans, waiting has become something of a civic duty. New Yorkers waited through disappointments, coaching changes and decades of near misses. On June 13, after 53 years, the Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 to win Game 5 and clinch the Finals 4-1. The decades of waiting finally gave way to a historic celebration. On June 18, millions of fans, Riverdalians among them, poured into lower Manhattan for the New York Knicks’ first ticker-tape parade since 1973, transforming the Canyon of Heroes — a one-mile strip of Broadway running from Battery Park to City Hall — into a sea of blue and orange. At 4 a.m. that morning, Rob Rodriguez, 46, woke his 17-year-old son, Jack Rodriguez, and headed downtown in an Uber from Riverdale as
far as a car could get them. “It already was absolutely mobbed by 5:30, which is what time we stepped foot on Liberty Street and walked toward Broadway,” said Rob Rodriguez. Navigating the streets on foot quickly proved hopeless, he said. “In true New Yorker fashion,” the pair hopped on the R train to Times Square, transferred to the 2, and rode it back down to Fulton Street just to cover a few blocks. When they emerged, they joined scores of others staking out viewing spots hours before the first float rolled past just after 10 a.m. Despite the crush of people, Rob Rodriguez said the atmosphere remained remarkably upbeat. Like many New Yorkers of his generation, Rob Rodriguez grew up on the Knicks teams of the 1990s, idolizing the legendary Patrick Ewing. Now, he shares that fandom with his son through annual Christmas Day
trips to Madison Square Garden and nearnightly family viewings during the season. After the parade, Rob Rodriguez and his son made their way to City Hall for the coveted Knicks championship ceremony. Rob Rodriguez said he wished a few more players had spoken beyond Jalen Brunson, the team’s captain, but he lit up at the sight of the Knicks alumni in attendance — his favorite player chief among them. “Patrick Ewing was my Jalen Brunson back in the day,” Rob Rodriguez said, adding that watching the organization embrace its former players throughout the season and the playoff run had been one of his favorite parts of the season. “Once a Knick, always a Knick,” he said Mayor Zohran Mamdani had announced two days before the parade, on June 16, that the city would give away 600 free tickets to the ceremony, with a lottery selecting 300 KNICKS ON PAGE A4
Applications for New York City’s inaugural free 2-K program close June 26, leaving families across Riverdale and neighboring northwest Bronx communities with days to apply for what could amount to thousands of dollars in annual savings on childcare. The new initiative, launched earlier this month by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, will for the first time offer free care for 2-year-olds regardless of family income. The city launched applications June 2 for roughly 2,000 seats across five school districts, including Community School District 10, which includes Riverdale, Spuyten Duyvil, Kingsbridge, Marble Hill, Van Cortlandt Village and Kingsbridge Heights. Districts selected for the pilot were chosen based on economic need, anticipated demand, gaps in access to childcare and whether providers had the capacity to expand, according to city officials. Each 2-K classroom will be capped at 12 students. For many families, the financial stakes are significant, New York City Executive Director for the Mayor’s Office of Child Care and Early Childhood Education Emmy Liss told The Press. “Childcare in New York City has become unaffordable for most New Yorkers,” Liss said. “We know that that has a detrimental effect on families’ abilities to stay in the city, to live here, to thrive, to participate in the workforce.” Parents of infants and toddlers in New York City spent an average of more than $23,000 annually on center-based childcare in 2024, according to a report by the New York City comptroller. The same report found that a family would need to earn more than $300,000 a year for childcare to meet the federal affordability benchmark. Liss said the program is intended not only to reduce those costs, but also to strengthen early childhood education and make it easier for parents to remain in the workforce. “2-K is really our first step at moving toward a fully universal child care system, one where families with children under five would have access to free high-quality care,” she added. The initiative represents the city’s first major expansion of universal childcare since the launch of free 3-K in 2017. Officials plan to increase the 2-K program to 12,000 seats next 2-K ON PAGE A4
Bronx public gardens confront changing climate By Michelle Mullen mmullen@riverdalepress.com
The plants and trees at Wave Hill and the New York Botanical Garden are more than seasonal displays. Many are living collections intended to endure for decades, even centuries. But as New York’s climate grows warmer and weather patterns become more irregular, horticulturists say caring for those collections is becoming less predictable. This year’s growing season, shaped by lengthy winter cold, lingering snowpack and sudden bursts of spring heat, offered a glimpse at what gardening in a changing climate may continue to look like in the Bronx. At Wave Hill and the New York Botanical Garden, horticulturists said increasingly er-
ratic weather — from prolonged droughts and warmer winters to sudden heat waves and cold snaps — is changing not only how they care for their collections, but also what they can grow and what may survive in the future. This season, after one of New York City’s coldest, snowiest and iciest winters in recent memory, said Jess Brey, senior horticultural interpreter at Wave Hill, staff expected spring to arrive late. Instead, a series of unusually warm days in late March accelerated bloom times for some plants, while others suffered damage from the prolonged cold. “This was a very different spring,” Brey said. “There were a couple of things that occurred that made it a unique spring.” GARDENS ON PAGE A4
Courtesy Wave Hill
This year’s dramatic snow storms and freezing weather harmed some of Wave Hill’s plants.